April 23, 2007

Assisting farmers to participate in biofuels

In December 2006, Canada's New Government announced an investment of $345 million to help producers capture new opportunities in biofuels, and that regulations will be introduced on renewable fuel content. These announcements included:

• An investment of $200 million for a Capital Formation Assistance Program (now renamed the ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital Initiative);
• An investment of $145 million over five years in the Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program, which will link Canada's research talent in academia, in the private and public sectors, and apply this collective knowledge towards commercially viable applications.
• The Government of Canada will regulate an annual average renewable content of five per cent in gasoline by 2010, and will intend to regulate a two per cent requirement for renewable content in diesel fuel and heating oil by 2012;

In addition, Budget 2007 has allocated $2 billion over seven years to support the production of renewable fuels.

The ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital (ecoABC) Initiative

The ecoABC Initiative is a federal $200 million multi-year program ending on March 31, 2011 that provides repayable contributions for the construction or expansion of transportation biofuel production facilities.

Funding is provided for projects that use agricultural feedstock to produce biofuels and that have new agricultural producer equity investments in the projects equal to, at minimum, five percent (5%) of the total eligible project costs. The funding contributed increases as the level of producer equity investment increases.

Corporations (including co-operatives), individuals and partnerships are eligible to apply for ecoABC funding. Eligible applicants cannot be subject to controlling interest by a federal, provincial or municipal government.

The ecoABC Initiative is delivered nationally by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It is designed to provide an opportunity for agricultural producers to diversify their economic base and partic2007-09-05ownership in biofuel production facilities. As well, ecoABC will help achieve the federal government's goal of reaching an average of 5% renewable content in gasoline by 2010 and 2% renewable content in diesel fuel by 2012.